Malaga

TOTAL SCORE: 55

The NFC temperature is rising on Spain’s Costa del Sol, where the city of Malaga has been getting to grips with contactless technology.

Back in 2008, France Telecom’s Orange Spain launched a transit ticketing scheme in the Andalusían city. The pilot, which used the SIM as the secure element, gave around 50 people the chance to try contactless fare payments on buses using a Sony Ericsson Z750i NFC handset. Other firms involved in the pilot included Indra, Oberthur Technologies and Mobipay.

But that’s not the only use of the technology in the city. Spanish banking giant Banco Santander is behind a number of well established campus card schemes across the country, giving students contactless access to buildings such as libraries, halls of residence and gymnasiums. The cards can also be used to make payments, to store personal information and as a library card. Additionally, they are used to access public transport in a number of cities, including Malaga.